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Canada told it is failing its soldiers
‘I get a little perturbed at how we treat some of our people,‘ Brig.-Gen. Joe Sharpe says: Retired officer speaks out
James Cudmore
National Post
March 27, 2001
Canadian soldiers returning from violent overseas conflicts are continually neglected by a system that does not care, a high-profile former officer said yesterday
Brigadier-General Joe Sharpe, who headed a lengthy investigation into a 1993 Canadian deployment to Croatia, said his former fellow officers had allowed the culture of bureaucracy to overtake their duty of care to soldiers who return from peacekeeping missions afflicted with psychological ailments such as post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"I have to be candid, I get a little perturbed at how we treat some of our people," he said.
"Our obligation as leaders in this organization is first to our troops and that‘s where we have failed."
Brig-Gen. Sharpe retired from the Canadian Forces in January after 35 years of service when General Maurice Baril, the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, was unable to convince him to continue his service.
Yesterday, Brig-Gen. Sharpe said his experience with the intense bureaucracy of National Defence Headquarters had left him with a sense of "disillusionment," that precluded him from working from within the Canadian Forces to effect change.
"If we were putting half the energy into taking care of these people -- the soldiers -- that we seem to put into defending the senior officers and the system, then we would be taking damn good care of our people.
"I am frustrated by an organization that spends more time defending its [officers], than we do about the frigging soldiers who have been so badly treated here."
Brig.-Gen. Sharpe contacted the National Post over the weekend after he heard the story of Corporal Dale McEachern, a peacekeeping veteran of Croatia and Rwanda, who military police say drove his SUV into the front doors of his military headquarters in Edmonton.
Cpl. McEachern, who suffers from PTSD as a result of his overseas service, had been reassigned from his infantry battalion to a holding list while he underwent treatment. Following what is alleged to have been a psychological breakdown that was followed by the CFB Edmonton incident, Cpl. McEachern was arrested and taken to Alberta Hospital Edmonton, a psychiatric institution, where he remains. No charges have been laid.
"What concerns me is that this guy is not by himself. There are more like him out there," Brig.-Gen. Sharpe said. "As it is right now, these people hide it -- they don‘t want the system to know."
PTSD is a psychological ailment afflicting people who have undergone highly stressful or dangerous events. It results in vivid shocking nightmares, incidents of depression, violence and sometimes suicide.
Roméo Dallaire, a retired general who witnessed a near genocide while leading a peacekeeping mission in Rwanda in 1994, is the Canadian Forces‘ best-known PTSD victim.
Over the past two years, the Canadian Forces promised to help troubled soldiers by creating a centralized body to provide treatment for soldiers suffering from medical or psychological illnesses as a result of military service.
This included the creation of the Department of National Defence-Veterans Affairs Canada Centre for Support to Injured and Retired Members and Their Families; simply called, The Centre.
Rick McLellan, the social worker who runs The Centre, said there could be as many as 3,000 Canadian soldiers suffering from PTSD and said a departmental study commissioned in 1992 examined the issue.
"[That study] indicated that 15 to 20% of people who return from peacekeeping were exhibiting post-trauma stress symptoms," he said. "It‘s a real monster."
Mr. McLellan said despite the hype that followed the creation of five Centre offices at bases across Canada, it was clear the military was unable to deal with the scope of the problem.
"If the Canadian Forces is not providing the resources because they don‘t have enough qualified people, then the civilian community should do that. But it‘s not a given that the local community will have those resources either," he said. "What we are trying to do with the whole thing is to ensure that treatment is provided better."
Brig.-Gen. Sharpe was stronger in his criticism. He said the Canadian Forces had forgotten about troubled soldiers because their problems were a costly burden on the administrative system.
"Our personnel situation in the Canadian Forces defies the term ‘crisis‘ -- it‘s in terrible shape," he said.
"Many of our senior folks are so concerned about doing the bureaucratically correct thing that they lose sight of the right thing."
A spokesman for the Canadian Forces was unavailable for comment.
Brig.-Gen. Sharpe first encountered PTSD when he was asked to examine allegations that hundreds of peacekeepers who served in Croatia had been exposed to persistent environmental contaminants that later left them suffering from a host of unexplainable physical and psychological ailments. Although he was unable to determine the cause of the mysterious illnesses, Brig.-Gen. Sharpe drew links between the sick soldiers and PTSD.
"As long as a country like Canada is going to continue participating in peacekeeping missions -- as we ought to -- we need to be sensitive to the sorts of things that cause these problems."
‘I get a little perturbed at how we treat some of our people,‘ Brig.-Gen. Joe Sharpe says: Retired officer speaks out
James Cudmore
National Post
March 27, 2001
Canadian soldiers returning from violent overseas conflicts are continually neglected by a system that does not care, a high-profile former officer said yesterday
Brigadier-General Joe Sharpe, who headed a lengthy investigation into a 1993 Canadian deployment to Croatia, said his former fellow officers had allowed the culture of bureaucracy to overtake their duty of care to soldiers who return from peacekeeping missions afflicted with psychological ailments such as post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"I have to be candid, I get a little perturbed at how we treat some of our people," he said.
"Our obligation as leaders in this organization is first to our troops and that‘s where we have failed."
Brig-Gen. Sharpe retired from the Canadian Forces in January after 35 years of service when General Maurice Baril, the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, was unable to convince him to continue his service.
Yesterday, Brig-Gen. Sharpe said his experience with the intense bureaucracy of National Defence Headquarters had left him with a sense of "disillusionment," that precluded him from working from within the Canadian Forces to effect change.
"If we were putting half the energy into taking care of these people -- the soldiers -- that we seem to put into defending the senior officers and the system, then we would be taking damn good care of our people.
"I am frustrated by an organization that spends more time defending its [officers], than we do about the frigging soldiers who have been so badly treated here."
Brig.-Gen. Sharpe contacted the National Post over the weekend after he heard the story of Corporal Dale McEachern, a peacekeeping veteran of Croatia and Rwanda, who military police say drove his SUV into the front doors of his military headquarters in Edmonton.
Cpl. McEachern, who suffers from PTSD as a result of his overseas service, had been reassigned from his infantry battalion to a holding list while he underwent treatment. Following what is alleged to have been a psychological breakdown that was followed by the CFB Edmonton incident, Cpl. McEachern was arrested and taken to Alberta Hospital Edmonton, a psychiatric institution, where he remains. No charges have been laid.
"What concerns me is that this guy is not by himself. There are more like him out there," Brig.-Gen. Sharpe said. "As it is right now, these people hide it -- they don‘t want the system to know."
PTSD is a psychological ailment afflicting people who have undergone highly stressful or dangerous events. It results in vivid shocking nightmares, incidents of depression, violence and sometimes suicide.
Roméo Dallaire, a retired general who witnessed a near genocide while leading a peacekeeping mission in Rwanda in 1994, is the Canadian Forces‘ best-known PTSD victim.
Over the past two years, the Canadian Forces promised to help troubled soldiers by creating a centralized body to provide treatment for soldiers suffering from medical or psychological illnesses as a result of military service.
This included the creation of the Department of National Defence-Veterans Affairs Canada Centre for Support to Injured and Retired Members and Their Families; simply called, The Centre.
Rick McLellan, the social worker who runs The Centre, said there could be as many as 3,000 Canadian soldiers suffering from PTSD and said a departmental study commissioned in 1992 examined the issue.
"[That study] indicated that 15 to 20% of people who return from peacekeeping were exhibiting post-trauma stress symptoms," he said. "It‘s a real monster."
Mr. McLellan said despite the hype that followed the creation of five Centre offices at bases across Canada, it was clear the military was unable to deal with the scope of the problem.
"If the Canadian Forces is not providing the resources because they don‘t have enough qualified people, then the civilian community should do that. But it‘s not a given that the local community will have those resources either," he said. "What we are trying to do with the whole thing is to ensure that treatment is provided better."
Brig.-Gen. Sharpe was stronger in his criticism. He said the Canadian Forces had forgotten about troubled soldiers because their problems were a costly burden on the administrative system.
"Our personnel situation in the Canadian Forces defies the term ‘crisis‘ -- it‘s in terrible shape," he said.
"Many of our senior folks are so concerned about doing the bureaucratically correct thing that they lose sight of the right thing."
A spokesman for the Canadian Forces was unavailable for comment.
Brig.-Gen. Sharpe first encountered PTSD when he was asked to examine allegations that hundreds of peacekeepers who served in Croatia had been exposed to persistent environmental contaminants that later left them suffering from a host of unexplainable physical and psychological ailments. Although he was unable to determine the cause of the mysterious illnesses, Brig.-Gen. Sharpe drew links between the sick soldiers and PTSD.
"As long as a country like Canada is going to continue participating in peacekeeping missions -- as we ought to -- we need to be sensitive to the sorts of things that cause these problems."
